Send me email updates about messages I've received
on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.By signing up, you certify that
you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.

Do you think bicycle commuters should have to register and pay insurance?

I live in Portland, Oregon. We have a large number of bicycle commuters, I mean an obnoxius amount. So many roads here have been redone. One guy commuting from work even hit my dads side mirror on his car and took it right off, and the car was parked. Do you think bicycle commuters in bigger cities should have to register and carry insurance? I do understand that not everyone on a bike is not going to or from work, so maybe different levels of insurance or registration- something. What do you think?

Really, insurance is to pay for damage to other people and their property. Motorcycles are motor vehicles with odometers and can do almost no damage, so the insurance is super cheap. Since bicycles can do only a fraction of the damage of a motorcycle, it probably wouldn't be worth it for an insurance company to bother issuing these $10-15/year policies. Plus, since there's no title and no odometer, no one could tell the difference between one driven to work and one only driven recreationally. Why not treat it like damage by a pedestrian (like it is now) and save a whole lot of hassle?

Well, some of these bicycists around here are crazy! I mean they are suppose to obey certain laws too and most of the time you see them breaking them. They should be held accountable when they pedal through a red light and cause an accident. When I say there's huge amount of people on bikes, I mean HUGE amount. And you don't have to be near downtown. Just by my daughters school, I pass at least 50 bicyclists in a 5 minute time frame. They are not just leisurely bike riders out for a ride about town.